Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-05-19
QUEER HEBREW SIGNS.
SEEN IN A WALK IN THE POLISH
JEW QUARTER OF NEW YORK.
A Reporter Attempts to Decipher Que
OF the Curious Sign Notwithstanding
cient Hebrew Tongue.

sity of foreign languages which embraces
nearly every nation on the globe. The
odd signs are usually To he found in thrs.
localities Ot the city where the foreigners
of "A certain nationality have hlVed them
selves. and made mp Il district distinct
lively their own Within few wears
there has been an immense immigration
of the Polish Jews 10 this country. Their
homes i'll this city have been. as rule.
located in Bayard. Division. Chatham
! Essex and Hester streets The stores
along these thoroughfares advertise their
| wares in signs written i'll Hebrew charac
tiers. The most ordinary observer is apt
To note with some curiosity that the name
of the article i written from right TO left
and the figure stating the price II written
according 10 our own usage. Thus, in
stead nt writing as III English, Meat
l0c., these Hebrew signs express ii as
! 'lOC-tarN.' -
\ reporter happened TO be standing in
| front Of n liquor store in ESSEX street,
| engaged in an attempt 10 deCipher one Of
these curious sign boards. lie was ac-
costed 10y an elderly gentleman, who wore
a small black velvet skull cap lie asked
| the reporter whether he could read the
| sign
| The latter answered. No. sir Can YOU
| oh. yes, | can, replied the old man
That top line reads, 'i.ker store, Die
beste Trinke '
Why that isn't Hebrew" exclaimed
! the learned reporter. That's mixture
| of English and German
Quite correct" sad the stranger;
THAT is what is known rs .Judisch-
| DcutsCh. but il seems tu me since the
Ipf,Iiyh 10
used, the name scarce covers il.
ABOUT JUpI>,H ,~EUT~cH.
The reporter asked tn old man to tell
him something about Judisch- Deutsch.
| He readily consented
The name of Judisch- Deutsch." he
said, literally translated. means Hebrew
German II i not u language, but Il dia
lect. or. rs the Polish Jews themselves
term ii, II jargon. II takes its name from
the fact that il is written ia Hebrew char
| acter>, but its prepOnderant element Is
German. 1t contains words from almost
every language. but the extensive Use of
English il very recent Its history like
that OF all languages, would he the history
Of the people vino speak il. and would
show the singular wanderin.c- ul the Jews
since the earliest ages. At very early
traversed, with the PhoenicianS the Med
iterraneau sea ami Atlantic ocean, and
were engaged in trading with Britain and
the northern part of Germany About
the Year 800 b. c. Jewish travellers were
found i'll Greece, Italy and Spain. From
the latter country they wandered into
France, and about the twelfth century
they We're strongly intrenched in Germany
and parts Of Austria. Here they learned
the German language. Still retaining "a
large portion of the words picked mp in
other countries. the result was a couglom-
crate Of German. spanish, French. Sla-
vonian and other tongues, the first named
being the chief element And from this
remarkable pot p0urri of languages was
produced what j. known as JudiSCh-
DcGtSch. There were also some few Eng
lish words, but scarcely sufficient TO Ice
termed a factor in its composition
'A- education became more widely diff
fused in Germany, and the Jews We're oil
Tered better opportunities for becoming
cultured and enl ghfpucd. their Use Of this
dialect gave place TO a more correct and
polished German. but il j. still spoken in
many Of the doris in that country
Those OF the race, however, who Travelled
still further east aud settled in Poland
and Russia have never had any chance for
improvement and they still speak the Jar
SOn. Their dialect i distinguished from
the better German hy a frequent use OF a
harsh, gnttural termination 'ich' IL is
this dialect Of the Poles which is used in
the theatrical representations Civ, AT the
Oriental theatre, which is carried on en-
tirely by Polish Jews "
ANCIENT HEBREW TONGUE
The Old mau paused here and the re-
porter took occasion to ask: But what
has become of the original Hebrew Ian
guage that they started ont with"
We'll, the ancient Hebrew tongue is
very limited i'll the number of it, words,
and does not admit readily OF extended
conversations: consequently the nOmads
Were compelled TO prey upon the resources
OF the richer languages in order 10 acquire
expressions for their growing domestic,
bnt more particularly for their CONNER
Cial needs. The idioms which have been
Retained are few and are chiefly of a
hOmely domestic nature. The distinctive
of this dialect is that il is |
only spoken by Jews. Wherever Jewish /
have been formed il i found |
more or less in Use. Ii is said To exist in |
almost every inhabitable portion of the |
globe. Ii Is eXtensN ely met with in Asia |
Minor, and even i'll distant kHmtchatka |
for, you know, - and he made a significant |
gesture with his right hand. you find |
them wherever You go.n
The reporter then asked him To trans /
late some Uf the signs which could he seen |
On the stores.
The Old ma. said: Il must tell Won be-
furehand that while the Jewish characters 1
express almost the actual. correct spelling
Df the German words, they are very de
liciemt i'll expressing the English orthog-
raphy. | will gf-e You the exact equiVa-
lent in the letters of your own language.
and You will find that the word will sound
Just a You oftenest hear it spoken by the
more ignorant class Of Polish Jews. u dia-
cCt which has been made familiar by .
of Posen aud other Jewish stage
.haracters. In writing them remember
hat the words are all written hind end
Orem1~t.
Here is remarkable combination of
English. German and Hebrew. - said the
I'D man aS he stopped IN front Of Il large
Try goods store and read III, following
rom gigantic vari colured sign board:
HER is; III beSommru
Dry Goods, Hose, Linens. ShslS
FIR p-dlar~ uud priiVaf.
Il think this one beats tie ,lrv goods
ign, again spoke the reporter : guide
md instructor as lie halted = few moments
ater in front of an express Office and
pointed ont the following story printed in ,
.e.iuw upon sheet uf tin.
''Ak,pgess - Felnste Furnitsche wird
her ccmuft mach ste uud kouIri zu bill
lgste Preis.
By tins time the reiorrer felt that he
iai obtained sufficient Information a. 10 I
he character uf lhe sign bIurd~ ~ the l
'ollSh Jew quarter New York sun.
Wonan'~ Warfare.
biu,,lps rash nri.L IA.